


happy hour (lasts all night long)

by multicorn



Category: Glee
Genre: Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-06 23:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3152102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multicorn/pseuds/multicorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary:  Blaine meets Dave Karofsky again at Scandals, and they get to talking - about new starts, and making them.  ‘Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.’</p>
<p>Warnings: Brief mention of Karofsky’s canonical suicide attempt.  Very elided mention of ‘the things he did to Kurt.’  And implied depiction of depression.</p>
            </blockquote>





	happy hour (lasts all night long)

**Author's Note:**

> Based on spoilers for 6x01, but of course jossed by the actual episode. Also on tumblr [here](http://the-multicorn.tumblr.com/post/107611543785/fic-happy-hour-lasts-all-night-long).

Blaine comes back to Ohio with his tail between his legs.  And that’s exactly how he puts it, too.  In his head it scans to ‘Oh, Susanna’ - ‘come back to Ohio with a banjo on my knee’ - and it’s possibly the nicest of the many songs he makes up to sing quietly to himself.  
  
When he comes back to his parents’ house, they’ve already redone his old room - he never thought he’d be coming back to it, no one did - so they give him the whole basement level instead, with its separate entrance and guest bedroom and bathroom, and the former playroom, now disused for years, and say they’ll give him money to redecorate it in a month or so if he’s still here.  
  
He doesn’t come out for a week.  
  
On Wednesday, when his mom brings down dinner - he’s trying to pretend that he’s a prisoner here, being brought bread and water, but it’s kind of hard - she puts her hands on her hips and tells him that he can’t rot away here forever, he has to go out and see the sun somewhere again sometime.  
  
He knows it’s not at all what she’s thinking of, but - that makes it a little bit better?  Mostly there’s only one bearable place he knows in this town, anyway.  So he gels down his hair, picks out a nice outfit and then a bowtie to finish it off, locates his old fake ID, and heads out to the bar.  
  
Scandals is just like he remembered it.  Dirty, noisy, dark.  It’s not an adventure anymore, but at least no one has any expectations of him here.  The doorman tells him it’s Bear Country Wednesday without even glancing up at his face.  And he’s inside.  Not sure what to do; there are pool tables in one corner, what seems to be line dancing going on in the middle of the room, and of course there’s the bar.  For drinks.  But he thinks he’ll actually hang back, and look at the guys instead.  He’s never really been able to, before, when he went to a gay bar or club, he’s only gone with Kurt… and, yeah, ‘look but don’t touch’ can be fun, but this night hold the possibility of being different.  
  
So he considers his options, in this room full of strangers, perhaps the best that Lima, Ohio, has to offer.  At least right now.  What does he want?  Someone around his age.  Maybe a little older, but not too much.  And hot, of course, that goes without saying, but - he scans the crowd at the bar from the back, and turns to look at the tables too.  The lighting here’s dim, it’s hard to see what people look like unless you come up close.  There seems to be a good variety, though.  Tall guys, short guys, skinny guys, built guys, guys with all sorts of personal styles, sly smirks and flashing grins.  So many possibilities, so many people he doesn’t know.  
  
And then he sees one guy at the bar he’s been looking at turn, and - wow, fuck.  There is one person here he knows.  Dave Karofsky’s sitting there, and - there’s no reason he shouldn’t be.  But Blaine never expected to see him again in his life.  
  
The last time Blaine saw him, he had just tried to kill himself, a few weeks ago.  He had gone with Kurt to go see him, a few times, to try to be friends, before they’d given up on that.  Karofsky had been resentful of him then, but times have really changed since then.  Maybe for both of them.  
  
Before he knows it, he’s elbowing into the crowd, and he quickly makes his way to a space standing next to Karofsky at the bar.  
  
"Hey," he says, and Karofsky turns to him, the shock of recognition on his face is pretty comical.  
  
"Blaine Anderson?" he says, eyes open wide.  "I thought you went off to New York.  Oh, wait - are you back for summer vacation, or something?  And - " he twists on the bar stool, looking out over the crowd - "where’s Kurt?"  
  
The questions feel like stones churning in Blaine’s gut, but there’s no way avoid them completely.  “Kurt and I broke up,” he says, and pastes on a smile.  He is totally okay with this fact, or at least he’s going to be.  “And yeah, I’m back in Lima for the summer.”  And maybe longer - maybe forever - but best not to think about that.  
  
"Oh," Dave says, clearly taken aback.  "I’m sorry to hear that.  About you and Kurt, I mean."  
  
"Thanks," Blaine says, shortly, and signals the bartender for a drink.  "So.  How’re you?"  
  
"Doing pretty good," Dave says, with a nod.  "I work at McKinley, now, actually, I’m helping Coach Beiste with the football team.  But it’s fine, no one gives me any shit there."  
  
"I’m glad," Blaine says sincerely.  ‘You look much better than the last time we talked,’ would be the usual thing to say at this point, but under the circumstances… he’s not sure, thinking for a second, Dave continues.  
  
"It’s really crazy how things have changed.  In just a few years, I mean.  Do you know, we have an openly gay kid on the football team now?  He’s my new quarterback."  
  
"Wow," Blaine says, and blinks.  "That’s pretty awesome."  
  
"I know, isn’t it," Dave says, and he seems to be glowing with pride.  
  
And Blaine can’t help it - maybe he should leave the past in the past, and usually he would - but the incongruity feels just too much for him to not say anything.  “So how does it feel,” he says, “to go from being a homophobic bully, to a supportive, helpful adult?”  
  
"Honestly?" Dave says.  "Pretty good."  He picks up his beer, and takes a long swallow, and Blaine does the same.  They watch each other over the rims of the glasses, questioning, assessing.  "Really, though," he says.  "I don’t know what you think of me - "  
  
"I don’t, usually," Blaine interjects into the pause, and Dave nods.  
  
"I’m sorry for the things I did back then," he says, "especially to Kurt.  But I also can’t lett them define me forever, you know?  I have to move past them if I want to be better, and I wanted to try giving back."  
  
"I know what you mean," Blaine says, the words forming automatically in his mouth, as a well-worn pleasantry.  But he’s struck by the truth of them, hearing, and, surprised, sits back a little, his brows drawing together.  "Wow, I really do," he says, mostly to himself.  This isn’t anything he’d been looking for, coming out tonight.  
  
Dave’s looking at him curiously.  “What do you mean?” he asks.  And, Blaine knows, he could dodge.  He doesn’t have to answer this one.  He’s done a lot of not answering, lately.  And maybe, kind of, all his life?  But especially now, it seems, when all the answers he has to give are wrong.  And he’s just feeling so tired of it, from it, so exhausted - he wants to tell the truth.  Somewhere.  And Dave Karofsky’s opinion of him doesn’t matter at all.  
  
"I failed out of school," he admits.  "That’s why I’m back in Lima."  
  
"No way!" Dave says, and he seems so utterly astonished that Blaine can’t help but laugh.  It feels good, to laugh about it, like it’s letting just a little bit of the poison out.  
  
"Why do you say that?" Blaine asks, curiously.  
  
Then Dave looks down at the bar, shyly, and… is he really blushing?  “I’ve seen you perform,” he says.  “With New Directions.  After I left McKinley, I still went back for the competitions and the plays.  And you’re just - really good, wow.  They must be crazy stupid to throw you out.”  
  
"Thanks," Blaine says, ducking his head, heart racing.  Dave had gone to his performances - well, the glee clubs’?  He’s not quite sure what to make of that.  "But they weren’t, really, I earned it.  I stopped going to my classes for more than a month there."  
  
"Wow," Dave says, again seemingly struck speechless.  
  
"So," Blaine says, waving his hands in the air, vaguely, "you see, I want to be better.  But it’s so hard, sometimes, to even want to try when I feel like I’ll always be defined by the ways I fucked up."  
  
"I see," Dave says, "that was very profound," and Blaine laughs again.  Which is - wow, twice in one day.  It’s been a while.  Dave holds up his glass, towards Blaine, and says, "a toast.  To starting over."  
  
"To starting over," Blaine says, and clinks his glass dully off Dave’s, and then drains it completely.  Time for a new year, new glass, new everything.  
  
"Seriously, though," Dave says, "even with all of that, you know, it’s really nothing alike.  You’ve never hurt anyone - " and Blaine winces, internally, but of course Dave doesn’t notice and plows straight on, "and you’re talented and smart and cute.  I know that, and I don’t even know you.  There’s really no comparison."  
  
"Well, you’re cute, too," Blaine ventures, and this time Dave barks a laugh.  
  
After that it’s easy enough.  They nurse a couple more beers, Dave filling Blaine in on the drama between all the Scandals regulars, and Blaine paying him back with stories from the clubs in New York.  After a while, when the country music has switched over to Scandals’ usual dance-pop, Blaine even manages to get Dave out on the dance floor, and while his moves aren’t what anyone would call smooth at least he has enough of a sense of rhythm to stay close without either of them stepping on each others’ feet, which is more than Blaine can say for some of the guys he’s danced with.  He teaches him, for a couple songs, hands on Dave’s hips, solid and a good few inches above his own, directing with a light touch.  And when Dave’s had enough of that, they settle at the bar again, watching the TV.  It’s a post-game football analysis for a game that Blaine missed, and when he mentions this fact Dave says, “I haven’t seen it yet either, but I have it recorded.  Do you want to come over to my place and watch?”  
  
"Sure," Blaine says.  And alone, in his car, driving to Dave’s, it hits him just how surreal this is.  Going to watch a football game with Dave Karofsky as if they’re friends?  Well, maybe they are friends now, he thinks, or maybe they’re going to be, who knows.  Nothing in his life right now is what he once thought it would be.  But he’s glad he’s still here, at least, and he’s glad that Dave is too.  
  
He parks at what turns out to be a nondescript apartment building: red brick, square, just four stories high.  Dave waves to him when he gets out of the car, and he waves back and jogs over.  
  
"It’s on the third floor," Dave says, "come on," and leads him up and in.  The apartment’s nondescript, too, when he opens the door; messy, with piles of clothing and cables snaking all over the floor.  Looking around, Blaine sees a model of a plane that he remembers once building in middle school on one of the haphazardly filled shelves, but before he can remark on it, Dave turns on the TV and flops on the couch.  "So," he says, "game?"  And Blaine nods.  
  
He flops down next to Dave, on the lumpy brown couch, real leather or fake he can’t tell at this degree of beat up.  But it’s relaxing, in a mindless way, to watch the game and yell out comments.  The first time he comments on how cute one of the players is, Dave agrees, and then they get stuck in a smile at each other for a moment.  Because yeah, he can do that here, and Dave seems to feel the same way.  This is kind of fun.  The second time, Blaine adds, “and he has a really nice ass.”  
  
And Dave says, “yours is nicer.”  Which, what?  
  
"What?" Blaine says.  
  
"Nevermind," Dave says, but he’s definitely blushing now, like a tomato, and Blaine doesn’t really want to let this go.  
  
"You think I’m hot?" he asks, smiling.  
  
"Well, yeah," Dave says.  It sounds like ‘duh.’  "But… I don’t know how to do this."  
  
"What?" Blaine asks, grinning now.  "A hookup?"  He hasn’t had a lot of practice, either, and that thing with Eli was an unmitigated disaster, but - he’s still not afraid.  
  
"No," Dave says, "not just a hookup," and Blaine floomps backward on the couch, all the breath let out of him in one great whoosh.  Oh.  Oh.  "Because I think you’re amazing," he says, "and because - because of what you said earlier.  About starting again.  I know you somehow think you fucked up, but you’re so much better at life than I am - do you know, at Scandals, the guys call me Yogi Bear?  Well, Kurt gave me the nickname once, but anyway, it stuck.  You could be, like, my Jiminy Cricket, my Boo-Boo Bear, tell me when I get things wrong."  Blaine just sits there, with his face in his hands, for a moment, "and because you’re short," Dave adds.  
  
"Oh my god," he says.  "Oh my _god_.”  He doesn’t know what he’s even feeling; mostly it’s just way too much.  
  
"Is that a yes?" Dave says, hopefully.  
  
"Yes, it is, wow,"  Blaine says, and he’s practically exploding inside.  He can’t define it, but he can’t deny it, either, all of that sounds so much like everything he wants right now.  And he hadn’t even known.  "Here, can you - " he asks, but even with his hand on Dave’s face, he’s not moving to kiss him at all.  Frozen with shock, Blaine wonders?  Anyway, he sits up on his knees on the couch, and turns so his face is tilted to Dave’s, leaning half over his body.  Dave’s smiling, calm and relief and something more complicated in it too, Blaine can’t read him quite yet but that’s fine, they have lots of time.  "Kiss me?" Blaine whispers, and Dave does, leans forward, his mouth opening quickly under Blaine’s tongue, Blaine’s hands finding a home on his cheeks.  
  
It’s not the best kiss he’s ever had.  But it feels like a new beginning, and he’d almost given up.


End file.
